Crosman Crossbows Connections

February 26, 2018

This article was initially named "I wanted to spend $2000 but only spent $200." After all, I was mad and that November evening, I fully intended to spend $2000 on the newest, fanciest, and frankly most expensive crossbow that I could find. My Tundra headed south and soon arrived at Cabela's in Triadelphia, WV. As I bounded to the archery section, I was still not sure if I was mad at myself but I definitely knew I was mad at the reverse draw crossbow that I had been using for the last four years. This crossbow failed me on a recent Wyoming pronghorn antelope hunt. That was a psychologically difficult pill to swallow and I even relegated the failure to hunter error. However, this particular evening was early November and the whitetail rut was about to explode.

A mere hour before I arrived at Cabela's, a mature Ohio 10-pointer wanted to be the first to partake in the swelling rut as he ever so patiently grazed in my Buckeye Blends food plot. Inevitably, I released an arrow from the reverse draw crossbow and heard a pop. This was not a good pop, but rather the pop of the string breaking. The easy shot landed about 20 yards to the left of the buck. Without much hesitation, I was done with this bow and tossed it off my Shadowhunter shooting tower. I flipped the bow to the corner of the road next to the trash can and began my journey to Cabela's.

I told the Cabela's outfitter which crossbow was my heart's desire and to my horror he frowned and explained to me that it was on two-weeks backorder. That was unacceptable, the rut was here and I had to hunt tomorrow. I waited all year for this two week period and it was go time. I needed a crossbow now. I told him money was no object. He turned and pointed to a CenterPoint Sniper 370 crossbow hanging from a rack. He proclaimed that this crossbow was the best value for the dollar and would get me through the season for a reasonable price. I asked him "how reasonable?" and he told me about $250. Then he explained to me that CenterPoint is made by the Crosman Corporation, Bloomfield, NY (www.centepointhunting.com). I asked him if this was the same company that makes air guns and the air bow. He told me "one in the same".

Article Photos

The author with a nice eight-point buck, taken with his new Crosman Tormentor Whisper 380 Crossbow. Photo courtesy of Travis R. Hunt

Crosman Tormentor Whisper 380 Photo courtesy of Crosman

The author with a nice fall turkey, taken with his new Crosman CenterPoint Sniper 370 crossbow. The Crosman performed flawlessly and it only cost me $200. Photo courtesy of Travis R. Hunt

Snidely, I proclaimed that he couldn't be serious. He said "absolutely" and proceeded to tell me that he sells these CenterPoint crossbows like "hotcakes" and has not had any returned.

Internally, I struggled not spending a lot of money because I wanted that crossbow that would do all sorts of astonishing feats of aerodynamic agility for $2,000. But, I had a coupon and a military discount so I could walk out the door for $200. After sighting in the scope, I did just that. I dropped two crisp $100 bills and emerged with a smile on my face ready to hunt tomorrow.

Up early before the sun, I made my way to a treestand, nestled slightly in the woods along the transition to the food plot. He was very respectable but not what I had in mind that morning. I was after antlers not beards. However, I am fond of sauted turkey breast and I relished the opportunity to field test my Crosman. I settled the scope in the middle of the turkey assuring that the arrow would penetrate both wings. In a blink the arrow jumped forward and the turkey was pinned to the ground. The Crosman performed flawlessly and it only cost me $200.

Fact Box

"Every hunting season comes down to a 20 second window in which you must acquire the target, evaluate the target and ultimately decide to shoot or not to shoot."

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I believe in feedback, be it positive or negative, so I reached out to the Crosman Company and was soon speaking with Jay Duncan, Director of Marketing. I relayed my story to Jay and we connected instantly. I suppose all hunters have a few things in common. Jay offered to send me the newest Center Point crossbow, the Tormentor Whisper 380 for an Ohio whitetail field trail. He explained to me that the Sniper is an entry level crossbow whereas the Tormentor package is flush with additional features for a slightly higher $400 price point.

Not to pass up any opportunity to work with new products, I accepted and within two days the Tormentor arrived. After three shots from an elevated position into my block target I was ready to hunt. I immediately noticed the clarity of the reticle of the 4x32 scope. The turrets were stout and I could hear each click while adjusting the elevation. I did not need to adjust the windage as the arrows hit dead center. A factory setting like that is much appreciated. The Tormentor has an arrow speed rated a 380 fps and a draw of 185 pounds. These factors combined with a clear scope easily accommodated practice shots of 30 and 40 yards respectively.

With my Center Point in hand, I made my way afield and began the 400 yard walk to my Shadowhunter shooting tower. The tower is perched on the southern edge of a half-acre Buckeye Blends food plot bursting with the right combination of torpedo radish, purple top turnip, and scrumptious sugar beets. These tubers are not the only treat in the food plot, as a tripod automated feeder is positioned 25 yards from the tower and spins golden corn kernels every morning and every afternoon.

This is my favorite and most productive area on my ranch, for two reasons. First, the little half acre food plot is a natural whitetail travel funnel that is surrounded on three sides by woods thus providing the deer a sanctuary. Secondly and just as important, I know if I feed my passion my passion feeds me and sure enough the deer are fans of the supply of corn and greens.

As I began the journey I saw antlers and if they were gleaming from a few hundred yards away, it was worth my attention. What appeared to be a main frame eight-pointer was also about 400 yards away from the food plot but meandering in that direction. I stopped and watched him step into the woods. My plan was simple; I rationalized that he was heading to the food plot and I needed to be there before he arrived. I picked up the pace and trotted to the shooting tower while hoping the deer was far enough into the woods to not spot me. I never saw him so that was a good sign. I climbed the wooden ladder and closed the door behind me. I was in the shooting tower and made it before any deer arrived. I observed from the ground that the feeder had yet to spin and suddenly it did. I know it spins every afternoon at 3:30 but the initial noise still startled me.

Within minutes, a group of three does appeared. I knew the does well as I had watched the mom and her two fawns for over a year. These are nice young ladies and politely shared the corn. No buck, but more does appeared. This time a second family group was onsite and the mothers faced off. Yet still no buck. I surmised this was unusual for the middle of the rut. However, like many other Ohio hunters, I was painfully aware of the attrition that the EHD outbreak wrought on the deer population.

If something was going to happen, it needed to happen quickly as dusk was rapidly creeping in. Then the best laid plan actually worked as the buck stepped from the woods and surveyed the food plot. He liked the young ladies, I don't know which one, maybe all of them. But I knew I definitely liked him. I appreciated the narrow 14" axel-to-axel width of the cocked limbs as I eased the Crosman crossbow through the window in the shooting tower. I settled my chin on the monte-carlo style stock and my eye immediately fixated on the grazing deer. Though light was scarce the scope was bright enough for me to aim small and hopefully not miss small.

The arrow leapt from the Tormentor Whisper 380 with a surprisingly minimal twang. I attribute this to the integral silencing system which includes string stoppers, silencers, and limb dampeners. I knew the arrow connected as I heard the impact and saw the deer spin and dart into the woods. I crept to the point of impact and found the arrow embedded in the ground. The fletching glistened with blood so I knew the arrow passed directly through the deer. Not yet wanting to proclaim victory, I decided to return in the morning to recover the buck. I slept relatively well after replaying the sequence of events in my mind's eye.

Shortly after sunrise, my son and I recovered the big Ohio eight-pointer about 30 yards into the woods. After the post-harvest ritual of tagging the deer, taking a few pictures, and a trip to the taxidermist, I was able to take a breather.

Over the past 18 years of my experimenting with hunting, I have established three rules. The first is, you must understand and respect your prey. After all, you choose to match wits with them on their home turf. Secondly, you must feed your passion in that you should take advantage of the opportunity to utilize food plots and feeders. This helps you see more game and at the same time provides the game with food for growth and winter survival. Finally, you must have confidence that your equipment will perform when performance is demanded. Every hunting season comes down to a 20 second window in which you must acquire the target, evaluate the target, and ultimately decide to shoot or not to shoot.

That evening I decided to shoot and I was confident my Crosman crossbow was the right tool for the task at hand. Crosman is not just about airguns and airbows; they are now about crossbows, and darn good crossbows if I say so myself. The combination of a fantastic price and bountiful features positions the Crosman Tormentor Whisper 380 as a crossbow that every hunter can confidently take afield.